Shadow fleet grows to about 630 tankers, Lloyd's List Intelligence estimates

The shadow fleet carrying sanctioned oil has grown to about 630 tankers, or 14.5% of the global tanker fleet, up from 530 a year earlier, according to Lloyd's List Intelligence figures reported by Reuters. Before 2022 it numbered 280 to 300 ships. Reuters reports that ten tankers were detained between January and May 2024, compared with six in the same period of 2023, and that nine of them had previously called at Russian ports. Many shadow vessels lack scrubbers but buy high-sulphur fuel oil in Russia, an industry source said. Lloyd's List Intelligence analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann said the dark fleet "has gone on steroids".

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